St. George's Church (Celle)
The St. Georg Church is an Evangelical Lutheran church in Celle , Lower Saxony . It owes its name to St. George , the dragon slayer . St. George is one of the 14 helpers in need , he is the patron saint of various countries, noble families, cities and knightly orders .
history
In 1392 Gerhard vom Berge , the Bishop of Hildesheim , granted the city of Celle permission to build a hospital for lepers , the elderly and the disabled . It was dedicated to Saint George. This included a small chapel that was intended exclusively for the residents of the St. George Hospital. At that time the hospital was about a kilometer from the city wall . The other residents of Altenceller Vorstadt, who grew steadily after the Thirty Years' War , were excluded from worship in the town church when the town gates were closed . Heinrich Langenbeck , the then Chancellor of the Principality of Lüneburg , supported Christian Ludwig , the Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg , in building his own church and school in the Altenceller suburb. By decree of the duke, the Blumlage and the Masch were detached from the town church on April 1, 1656. In 1657 a larger church space was added to the existing chapel. The old chapel became the sanctuary. Esaias Gittel from Hanover, who worked here until 1657, was appointed the first provisional preacher. In 1658 a separate daughter community was formed on the Blumlage. The hospital was demolished in 1963. The sandstone relief from 1645 from the gable of the house, which shows St. George killing the dragon, was attached to the side entrance of the church building.
Furnishing
The origin of the furnishings in the church is largely unknown. Neither a donor nor an artist workshop have survived.
The altar, in its original form a late Gothic folding altar , still comes from the old chapel. When the church was rebuilt, it was redesigned to match the pulpit in the Renaissance style. The side wings were provided with veil parts. Two large oil paintings on the back of the altar wing were painted over at the time and only rediscovered in January 1988 during restoration work. These are the oldest church panels still in existence in Celle. The images depicting Jesus crucified at the moment of his resurrection and the grieving mother of Jesus have been revised and are now hanging on the side of the chancel.
The pulpit from 1657 is from the same year as the church renovation. The pulpit, carved in wood, has a three-part structure. The staircase with the figures of the Twelve Apostles is carried by the figure of Moses who holds the Ten Commandments in his arm.
The baptismal font made of sandstone , also dating back to the church reconstruction, has six alabaster reliefs on. They depict the birth and circumcision of Jesus. The four evangelists Matthew , Mark , Luke and John can also be seen. A kneeling angel figure forms the base.
Former altarpiece "The Man of Sorrows"
The altar
the pulpit
The font
Former altarpiece "The Mother of Sorrows"
organ
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The church received its first organ in 1659. The current organ dates from 1955. When the new organ was built, an older positive was used and inserted into the parapet on the gallery.
Bells and tower
There was originally no tower directly next to the church. First there was a wooden bell tower in the former cemetery on the Blumlage. Today the Blumläger schoolyard is located on the site. This tower burned down in 1892. The bells also melted. In the same year a tower was added to the church. Of the two bells in this tower, the smaller one still hangs here today. The larger of the two was melted down in World War I and used for the armaments industry. Their successor was also requisitioned and melted down during World War II . In 1945, after the end of the war, a cast steel bell was hung in the tower as a replacement . In 1992, for the 100th anniversary of the tower (also the 600th anniversary of the former hospital), a third bell was purchased from donations and inaugurated.
Web links
Website of the St. Georg parish Coordinates: 52 ° 36 ′ 56.6 ″ N , 10 ° 5 ′ 42.3 ″ E